Difference between a habitual delinquent and a recidivist
"I am a Barangay Kagawad, and one of my constituents was arrested for committing theft. Accordingly, he was said to be a habitual delinquent. But another police officer said he was instead a recidivist. I wish to be clarified as to the difference between the two and whether the difference would matter for his application for bail after his conviction by the trial court.
ReneDear Rene,
To answer your first query, we must look at the pertinent laws and jurisprudence. Succinctly, under Act Number 3815, otherwise known as “The Revised Penal Code,” a recidivist and a habitual delinquent are defined:“A recidivist is one who, at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of this Code.
xxx“For the purpose of this article, a person shall be deemed to be habitual delinquent, if within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crimes of serious or less serious physical injuries, robo, hurto, estafa or falsification, he is found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener.”
To illustrate recidivism, in the case of People vs. Kyamko (GR 103805, May 17, 1993), the Supreme Court, in a decision penned by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., held that:“A recidivist is one who, at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the Revised Penal Code. Appellant was convicted on 12 September 1988 for frustrated murder in Criminal Case No. TCS-01 and for frustrated homicide in Criminal Case No. TCS-445 by the court a quo. The decisions therein became final before the filing of the original and amended information in this case, and the crimes subject of this and in the said cases are all embraced in Title Eight, Book II of the Revised Penal Code.”On the other hand, to elucidate a habitual delinquent in relation to a recidivist, the Supreme Court in the case of People vs. Bernal (GR 44988, Oct. 31, 1936), through Associate Justice Domingo Imperial, said:“Under the last subsection of paragraph 5 of Article 62 of the Revised Penal Code, a person shall be deemed to be habitually delinquent, if within a period of ten years from the date of his release or last conviction of the crime of robbery, theft, estafa, or falsification, he is found guilty of any of said crimes a third time or oftener. Paragraph 9 of article 14 of the Revised Penal Code defines recidivism by stating that it is committed by a person who, at the time of his trial for one crime, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title of the Code.
“Reflecting on these definitions it will be seen that recidivism, viewed as an aggravating circumstance, is not a factor or element which necessarily forms an integral part of habitual delinquency. It will be noted that the elements as well as the basis of each of these circumstances are different.“For recidivism to exist, it is sufficient that the accused, on the date of his trial, shall have been previously convicted by final judgment of another crime embraced in the same title.For the existence of habitual delinquency, it is not enough that the accused shall have been convicted of any of the crimes specified, and that the last conviction shall have taken place ten (10) years before the commission of the last offense. It is necessary that the crimes previously committed be prior to the commission of the offense with which the accused is charged a third time or oftener.”The difference between a recidivist and a habitual delinquent being established, to answer your subsequent query as to its effect on your constituent’s application for bail, Rule 114 Section 5, par.3 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure applies, thus:“If the penalty imposed by the trial court is imprisonment exceeding six (6) years, the accused shall be denied bail, or his bail shall be cancelled upon a showing by the prosecution, with notice to the accused, of the following or other similar circumstances:“That he is a recidivist, quasi-recidivist, or habitual delinquent, or has committed the crime aggravated by the circumstance of reiteration…”Therefore, applying the above-mentioned rule, your constituent’s application for bail should be denied. Although a recidivist and a habitual delinquent are technically different, nonetheless, in so far as its effect on a person’s application for bail after the trial court’s conviction, the consequence is the same, i.e. the denial of the application for bail.We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our narration of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net" -
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